Qalandiya, 09-02-04 Afternoon Observers: Tova Sh, Hava B., Sara A As was reported in previous reports, the checkpoint at Qalandiya is undergoing a change before our eyes. The mud has become dirt. Heavy equipment is in the area. They are renovating, straightening things out, knocking down and widening. The kiosks on the southern side disappeared. At the checkpoint itself , there is a lot of pedestrian movement. A soldier stands at the head of the line and allows the passage of people with permits and blue i.d.’s. The rest are referred to the two posts that are manned by volunteers. There is a minimal waiting time (at least for those with appropriate documents — the others are generally made to return toward Ramallah. Everything is according to the book — there are no easements). One detainee who was caught in the quarry waited two hours until he was released. A young girl did not receive a permit to pass–she had a Jordanian passport with an expired visa). She had a photo of her father’s i.d. (an Israeli Jew) and a photo of a permit from the interior ministry attesting to her request for an Israeli i.d. which had been approved. She lives in Jerusalem and works in Ramallah. She was not able to work in Jerusalem because she still doesn’t have an Israeli i.d. She said that she passes the checkpoint almost every day with those papers, and today they were not allowing her to pass. She has no way of extending her visa and she doesn’t yet have the Israeli i.d. because that will entail extensive and exhaustive checks that could take a year. We tried to help her via the humanitarian hotline, but without success. In the end, she decided to go via Surda at the suggestion of her father with whom she spoke by phone. As part of the renovations, there is a pass for taxis which will considerably lengthen the waiting time for them, according to a soldier at the checkpoint. Trucks will not pass any more through the checkpoint. We asked about the status of ambulances and the soldier said, they will pass “with God’s help”. The inspectors returned to the checkpoint. A young man approached us and told us that his transit was confiscated a month ago. He showed us the form that he received from the police saying that it was confiscated, and February 9th, the date that he was to have received it back. He did not transfer the ownership (he explained that there is no such procedure in the Palestinian Authority) and therefore, they refused to free it in Atarot. We turned to Yuri who was the commander at the checkpoint. He glanced at the papers and declared they were forged and sent the man away. Following up on our experience from last week to determine how to release a confiscated car. We heard three different versions.1. We called the police at 100, and got the number 02-5848444 of the border police in Atarot who said that they have no connection with the return of vehicles and referred us back to the police.There we got an additional number: 02-584-8453 or 584-8438. We were told that the Palestinian should engage a lawyer and give him power of attorney to allow him to engage an Israeli tow service that will release the confiscated car from the parking low to the Palestinian area. Second version. We met with Phares and told him the problem of the young man, and after he questioned him briefly, he explained that until now there was confusion about this matter, but in spite of this the release is done via the border police in Atarot in the building of the Mashbir. Whoever had a vehicle confiscated should go there with his papers that he received from the police and after checking with the computer, will pay the fine and his vehicle will be freed. In this particular case, Phares said that he was unable to free the car because he didn’t transfer the ownership and therefore the car was not his because the car was Israeli and not Palestinian. The third version that we were witness to and appeared to be the most likely of the three. The Palestinian young man returned to the checkpoint with the original owner and with the papers and should go to the officer (Yuri) who made a phone call and after a few minutes, asked the man to wait at the gate. Wonder of wonders, after a short wait, the vehicle was released and we will continue to follow the other versions. The meanwhile, there was the usual dense mindedness at the checkpoint.